A new Purdue University web site has been established to help people identify and report invasive species of plants, insects and pathogens.

The Indiana Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) program recently launched the new web site highlighting Indiana’s “most unwanted” invasive species. The site is at extension.entm.purdue.edu/CAPS

The CAPS program is a collaborative effort between Purdue, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service division of Plant Protection and Quarantine, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, and the Indiana chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

The list, determined yearly by the Indiana CAPS state survey committee, identifies exotic species, invasive species and pests regulated by state or federal laws that could affect Indiana. The list is also used by officials to determine how resources for surveys and outreach and educational programs are best spent to protect Indiana.

People can search the site by the pest’s name, the commodity it attacks or by its habitat. The site reports the pest’s known distribution and whether it is currently present in Indiana. Visitors also can learn which invasive plant pests are found in specific Indiana counties.

The site also gives guidance on how to identify invasive species and instructions on reporting suspicious finds, either by calling the Indiana DNR at 1-866-NO EXOTIC or submitting samples to the Purdue Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory.

Posted 7/24/2007